Apple TV: 160GB Price Cut, 40GB Completely Cut

Speaking of Apple TV and the future, MacRumors reports that Apple's "hobby" lost its smaller SKU this morning as the 40GB Apple TV was cut from the Apple Store -- and Apple product lineup -- and the 160GB Apple TV was given a healthy price cut down from $329 to $229 [Apple Store link].

So our question becomes, is this a sign of Apple TV's slow slide to oblivion, or just a clearing of the deck before a long, long, long overdue update?

Storage aside, the Apple TV hardware has been unchanged since it was announced back in 2006 and then launched at Macworld 2007 alongside the introduction of the iPhone. The software received minor 1.x bumps before getting the <a href="http://www.imore.com/2008/01/15/apple-tv-2-rentals-hd-quality-free-software-upgrade-and-price-drop/>Take 2 treatment at Macworld 2008 as part of Apple's expansion into HD, TV, and Movie rentals, but since then has again been relegated to minor 2.x bumps -- mostly in keeping with iTunes and QuickTime updates.

Of course, with iTunes 9 and Snow Leopard's QuickTime X both being fairly significant updates this time around, no doubt another software bump is on its way... Could there finally be some new hardware coming with it?

We'll keep our hopes up, but we've learned to live with anticipointment...

This might finally get me to make a purchase. I've wanted one of these for a while, but thought 40 GB was too small, but 160 GB was too expensive. I'm going to see if the refurbed 160 units get down to $199 and I might pull the trigger. I'd rather do movie rentals through iTunes than my cable company anyway (same price but better experience via AppleTV).

They just released an update for the iPhone Remote and and for the Apple TV a couple months ago that enables gestures on the iPhone to control the onscreen Apple TV cursor. Hard for me to believe they'd work on such a cool update for a product that was on the verge of being axed.

The new iTunes Extras features for movies seem to be a perfect fit for a TV viewing experience, and I'd be very surprised if they didn't eventually enable the Apple TV to access that content. I think they are probably working on some sort of update - software or hardware - to bring it closer to a DVD viewing experience.

Also, people, you can watch anything you didn't buy from iTunes on Apple TV. I watch all my store-bought DVDs on it. It's called ripping. (Or if you downloaded something, it's called converting.)

Another thing, people moan about the hard drive space of the Apple TV but the hard drive space doesn't matter a lick to me, I stream everything and it works great. I think a lot of people fundamentally misunderstand the appeal of Apple TV.

Or..................Apple are working on a DVR, maybe with Freeview (free to air tv in UK) capabilities.
This might possibly the allow for TV shows to be recorded to Apple TV internal hardrive and then synced to ipod/iphone for offline viewing!

refurbs have now been re-priced in the Apple Store: 40 GB for $149 or 160 GB for $189. I just picked up a 160 GB refurb- the price was finally right for me. I’ll enjoy it even if they release new hardware soon or kill the product.

Great work! I might not grasp or go along with anything and everything right here, nevertheless it really still is extremely valuable content material! I undoubtedly am going to dedicate the subsequent couple of hrs basically leafing thru your several other content pieces. Adios for now.